Business Commons^™

Introduction To Special Section: Careers In Context, Hugh Gunz, Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Pamela Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] Career scholars regularly cite Hughes’ (1937: 413) dictum that the study careers as “the moving perspective in which persons orient themselves with reference to the social order, and of the typical sequences and concatenations of office – may be expected to reveal the nature and 'working constitution' of a society.” Yet the greater part of the careers literature typically ignores this by focusing, largely, on the careers of individuals and influencing factors mainly linked to the person and his or her immediate context, to the neglect of the broader context within which the careers are lived. However, large-scale economic …

The Value Of Government Mandated Location-Based Services In Emergencies In Australia, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael, Roba Abbas, Mutaz M. Al-Debei

Dr. Mutaz M. Al-Debei

The adoption of mobile technologies for emergency management has the capacity to save lives. In Australia in February 2009, the Victorian Bushfires claimed 173 lives, the worst peace-time disaster in the nation’s history. The Australian government responded swiftly to the tragedy by going to tender for mobile applications that could be used during emergencies, such as mobile alerts and location services. These applications, which are becoming increasingly accurate with the evolution of positioning techniques, have the ability to deliver personalized information direct to the citizen during crises, complementing traditional broadcasting mediums like television and radio. Indeed governments have a responsibility …

The Social And Behavioral Implications Of Location-Based Services, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

The social and behavioral implications of location-based services (LBS) are only now beginning to come to light in advanced markets where the services have been adopted by just a little over half the market (Microsoft 2011). Depending on one’s definition of what constitutes location-based services, statistics on the level of adoption differ considerably. While it is helpful to provide as broad a list of applications as possible in what constitutes LBS (e.g. everything from in-vehicle navigation systems to downloading a map using a computer), it can also cloud the real picture forming behind this emerging technology. Emerging not in the …

Locating Sociological Concepts In Business Games, Dylan Kissane, Helen Roux-Fontaine

Dylan Kissane

"This article describes one strategy for demonstrating the value of sociological concepts to business students by adopting a cross-discipline approach to a business game at a French-American business school. This strategy proved effective in allowing a social science professor to demonstrate the practical implications of two concepts – gender and race – to undergraduate students while simultaneously allowing an international management professor to demonstrate how cross-cultural teams should be managed in order to work effectively. This article first explains the Ecotonos business game; secondly, it explains the crucial debriefing process for the business game and demonstrates how sociological concepts can …

Curriculum Vitae, Karen Ahmed

Karen Hunt Ahmed

No abstract provided.

Recommendations For Australia’S Implementation Of The National Emergency Warning System Using Location-Based Services, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael, Roba Abbas

Professor Katina Michael

Mobile alerts, notifications and location-based emergency warning systems are now an established part of mobile government strategies in an increasing number of countries worldwide. In Australia the national emergency warning system (NEWS) was instituted after the tragic Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires of February 2009. In the first phase, NEWS has enabled the provision of public information from the government to the citizen during emergencies anywhere and any time. Moving on from traditional short message service (SMS) notifications and cell broadcasting to more advanced location-based services, this paper provides executive-level recommendations about the viability of location-based mobile phone services in NEWS …

Public Policy Instruments In (Re)Building National Innovation Capabilities: Cases Of Nanotechnology Development In China, Russia And Brazil, Evgeny A. Klochikhin

Evgeny A. Klochikhin

In 2001 Goldman Sachs named Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) the most rapidly-growing countries in the world capable of surpassing the United States, Japan and Europe as leading economies by 2050.

Nevertheless, for the last decade we have learned relatively little about the mechanisms of success and failure in these countries. All of them have huge territory and population as well as fast-growing economies that sometimes show two-digit rates of GDP growth per year and surprise the world by their increasing budgets and public spending. In the meantime, most of these countries are believed to be desperately struggling against …

The Reorganization Of A Professional Sports League - A Critical Analysis Of The Restructuring Of The Australian National Basketball League, Winston Wing Hong To, Shayne Quick, Darwin Semotiuk

Winston Wing Hong To

There are numerous examples of professional sports leagues that have failed. Australia has witnessed professor soccer (National Soccer League) and rugby leagues (Super League, Australian Rugby Football League) disappear, be restructured, or reintroduced under a new brand and name (soccer: A-League, rugby league: National Rugby league) (MacDonald & Karg & Lock, 2010; Commonwealth of Australia, 2006). North America has seen the closure of a number of professional sports leagues such as the XFL (American Football), World Hockey Association (Ice Hockey), and the Canadian Soccer League (Football/Soccer) (Bostwick, 2007; Golokhov, nd). There are numerous reasons why these professional sports leagues fail. …

The Fall-Out From Emerging Technologies: On Matters Of Surveillance, Social Networks And Suicide, M.G. Michael, Katina Michael

M. G. Michael

No abstract provided.

The Fall-Out From Emerging Technologies: On Matters Of Surveillance, Social Networks And Suicide, M.G. Michael, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

No abstract provided.

Escaping From Poverty: Household Income Dynamics In Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, And Venezuela, Gary S. Fields, Paul L. Cichello, Samuel Freije, Marta Menéndez, David Newhouse

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This study presents the main results of a larger, more technical report (Fields and others 2001) and subsequent work (Fields and others 2002) that analyzes income mobility in Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, and Venezuela. These economies were selected on the basis of the availability of panel data with which to analyze household income dynamics in the 1990s. By following households over time, we are able to investigate how households that were poor initially fared economically, relative to their richer counterparts. We can learn more about how and why households exit—and enter—poverty. To gauge income mobility, this study centers on …

Living Large: The Powerful Overestimate Their Own Height, Michelle M. Duguid, Jack A. Goncalo

Jack Goncalo

Three experiments tested the prediction that individuals’ experience of power influences perceptions of their own height. Power decreased judgments of an object’s height relative to the self (Study 1), made participants overestimate their own height (Study 2) and caused participants to choose a taller avatar to represent them in a second-life game (Study 3). These results emerged regardless of whether power was experientially primed (Study 1 and 3) or manipulated through roles (Study 2). Although a great deal of research has shown that physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that …

The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject Creative Ideas, Jennifer S. Mueller, Shimul Melwani, Jack A. Goncalo

Jack Goncalo

People often reject creative ideas even when espousing creativity as a desired goal. To explain this paradox, we propose that people can hold a bias against creativity that is not necessarily overt, and which is activated when people experience a motivation to reduce uncertainty. In two studies, we measure and manipulate uncertainty using different methods including: discrete uncertainty feelings, and an uncertainty reduction prime. The results of both studies demonstrated a negative bias toward creativity (relative to practicality) when participants experienced uncertainty. Furthermore, the bias against creativity interfered with participants’ ability to recognize a creative idea. These results reveal a …

'Passion For Justice’, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] Drawing on my experience and contacts, I advise and assist ILR students who are interested in working in the labor movement or other social justice organizations. Today's students seem more focused and practical than those from my undergraduate years, but—most important—they have the same passion for justice.

Negotiations In Organizations: A Sociological Perspective, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] The paper begins by elaborating on the utility of viewing organizational conflict and negotiations in social movement terms, and some of the implications of this approach for negotiations research. It then turns to a review of the traditional sociological literature on power and conflict in organizations, and of current research on social movements, discussing the points of complementarity of these two literatures. Finally, the implications of the combination of the social movement and organizations literatures for research on negotiation are discussed, focusing on the way in which negotiating issues, strategies and outcomes are likely to vary among different types …

Making A Difference: Enhancing The Impact Of Partnerships For The Social Good, Maria May Seitanidi

Maria May Seitanidi

Call for Abstracts and Posters 3rd International Symposium on Cross Sector Social Interactions 24-25 May 2012, University of Erasmus, Rotterdam, The Netherlands info@partnershipsresourcecentre.org Organised by: The Partnerships Resource Centre in Collaboration with Hull University Business School This is the full version of the CFP. NEW DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: 30 November 2011

Men's And Women's Definitions Of "Good" Jobs: Similarities And Differences By Age And Across Time, Pamela S. Tolbert, Phyllis Moen

Pamela S Tolbert

Whether and to what extent men and women hold differing preferences for particular job attributes remains the subject of debate, with a sizable number of empirical studies producing conflicting results. These conflicts may have temporal sources—historical changes in men's and women's preferences for particular job attributes, as well as changes in preferences that commonly occur over individuals' life cycle. Most previous research has neglected the effects of time on gender differences. Using data from national surveys of workers over a 22-year period, this study focuses explicitly on changes by age over time in men's and women's preferences for five key …

The Impact Of Ehr On Professional Competence In Hrm: Implications For The Development Of Hr Professionals, Bradford S. Bell, Sae-Won Lee, Sarah K. Yeung

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Information technology has been cited as a critical driver of HR’s transition from a focus on administrative tasks to a focus on serving as a strategic business partner. This strategic role not only adds a valuable dimension to the HR function but also changes the competencies that define the success of HR professionals. Interviews were conducted with HR representatives from 19 firms to examine the linkage between electronic human resources (eHR) and the reshaping of professional competence in HRM. Based on the findings, we draw implications for the development of HR competencies and identify learning strategies that HR professionals …

Slippage In The System: The Effects Of Errors In Transactive Memory Behavior On Team Performance, Matthew Pearsall, Aleksander Ellis, Bradford Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Although researchers have consistently shown that the implicit coordination provided by transactive memory positively affects team performance, the benefits of transactive memory systems depend heavily on team members’ ability to accurately identify the expertise of their teammates and communicate expertise-specific information with one another. This introduces the opportunity for errors to enter the system, as the expertise of individual team members may be misunderstood or misrepresented, leading to the reliance on information from the wrong source or the loss of information through incorrect assignment. As Hollingshead notes, “information may be transferred or explicitly delegated to the ‘wrong’ individual in …

Work Teams, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Teams serve as the basic building blocks of modern organizations and represent a critical means by which work is accomplished in today's world. Therefore, significant research during the past few decades has been focused on understanding work team effectiveness. This entry looks at the history of this research and what it says about team types, team composition, team development, team processes, and team effectiveness.

Cleveland Schools Social Skills Training Program Showing Positive Results, David Volosin, Oscar T. Mcknight, John Sikula

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

This article reports on research conducted in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District by the Society for Prevention of Violence (SPV). A total of 1500 students and 150 teachers participated in a social skills training program. Statistically significant positive results were found over the course of the 2009 - 2010 school year. A positive change in the school environment was documented via a thirty-five item learning survey. Because of the positive results, during the 2010 - 2011 school year, SPV's social skills training program is being implemented in all three Parma middle schools.

Institutional Environments And Resource Dependence: Sources Of Administrative Structure In Institutions Of Higher Education, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

Two theoretical perspectives are combined to explain the pattern of administrative offices in public and private institutions of higher education. The first perspective, resource dependence, is used to show that the need to ensure a stable flow of resources from external sources of support partially determines administrative differentiation. The second perspective, institutionalization, emphasizes the common understandings and social definitions of organizational behavior and structure considered appropriate and nonproblematic and suggests conditions under which dependency will and will not predict the number of administrative offices that manage funding relations. The results of the analyses indicate that dependence on nontraditional sources of …

Organizational Institutionalism And Sociology: A Reflection, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] In 1991, DiMaggio and Powell observed: Institutional theory presents a paradox. Institutional analysis is as old as Emile Durkheim's exhortation to study 'social facts as things', yet sufficiently novel to be preceded by new in much of the contemporary literature. (1991: 1) We argue that this paradox is, at least in part, the result of a long-standing tension in sociology between more materialist, interest-driven explanations of behavior and ideational, normative explanations, a tension that has often driven oscillating waves of sociological theorizing. It underlies many classical debates (e.g., between Spencer and Durkheim, Weber and Marx, and even Parsons and …

Physicians’ Work, Alice A. Oberfield, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] In order to evaluate the full impact of such changes on physicians' work and the health care system, it is necessary to understand the forces bringing change about. Thus, we begin by providing a brief history of the contemporary medical care system, then turn to an assessment of current trends and their consequences for the practice of medicine.

Institutional Sources Of Organizational Culture In Major Law Firms, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] A large body of research has been generated within the last few years on the forms and functions of organizational culture and on the consequences of culture for organizational control and effectiveness. Surprisingly little attention has been given, however, to the sources of organizational culture and, in particular, to the features of organizations that affect its maintenance and transmission. This chapter uses an institutionalization perspective to explore these issues.

The Cost Of Treating Addiction From The Client's Perspective: Results From A Multi-Modality Application Of The Client Datcap, Kathryn Mccollister, Michael French, Jeffrey Pyne, Brenda Booth, Richard Rapp, Carey Carr

Michael T. French

There is a considerable disparity between the number of individuals who need substance abuse treatment and the number who actually receive it. This is partly due to the fact that many individuals with substance use disorders do not perceive a need for formal treatment. Another contributing factor, however, is a discrepancy between the real and perceived cost of services. Although many cost evaluations of substance abuse treatment have been conducted from the treatment provider perspective, less is known about the client-specific costs of attending treatment (e.g., lost work and leisure time, transportation, out-of-pocket and in-kind payments). Concerns about financial and …

The Structure Of Opportunity: Network Configuration And Career Mobility, Terri A. Scandura Phd

Terri A. Scandura

Within organizations, managers are constantly choosing with whom they will begin, continue or cease to interact (Fischer, 1977; Kaplan, 1984). Organizations have been defined as "fish nets" of interrelated offices, and can be viewed as social groupings with relatively stable patterns of interaction over time (Katz and Kahn, 1978; Weick, 1969). If such a model of organizing is to move beyond this metaphor, coherent frameworks, and accompanying methods of analysis capable of capturing these emergent processes are necessary. The social network perspective was proposed by Tichy, Tushman and Fombrun (1979) and has guided data collection and analysis on emergent network …

Garbage-In, Garbage-Out: Item Generation As A Threat To Construct Validity, Terri A. Scandura Phd, Lucy R. Ford

Terri A. Scandura

Item generation has received only cursory attention in the research literature, despite the fact that it seems obvious that poorly written items will result in poor psychometric properties of measures. In this paper, we review the literature on item generation, develop a typology of threats to construct validity, and evaluate five commonly usedorganizational research measures with respect to typology. Our results demonstrate that the sampled measures have significant problems that may represent threats to construct validity. recommendations for improved item generation practice are offered.

Team Learning, Development, And Adaptation, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Bradford S. Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] Our purpose is to explore conceptually these themes centered on team learning, development, and adaptation. We note at the onset that this chapter is not a comprehensive review of the literature. Indeed, solid conceptual and empirical work on these themes are sparse relative to the vast amount of work on team effectiveness more generally, and therefore a thematic set of topics that are ripe for conceptual development and integration. We draw on an ongoing stream of theory development and research in these areas to integrate and sculpt a distinct perspective on team learning, development, and adaptation.

Toward A Theory Of Learner-Centered Training Design: An Integrative Framework Of Active Learning, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W. J. Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] The goal of this chapter, therefore, is to develop an integrative conceptual framework of active learning, and we do this by focusing on three primary issues. First, we define the active learning approach and contrast it to more traditional, passive instructional approaches. We argue that the active learning approach can be distinguished from not only more passive approaches to instruction but also other forms of experiential learning based on its use of formal training components to systematically influence trainees' cognitive, motivational, and emotion self-regulatory processes. Second, we examine how specific training components can be used to influence each of …